Be Your Own Pet (also known as BYOP) is a four-piece

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

group from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Biography

The band formed in 2004, while all members were in high school at

Nashville School of the Arts Nashville School of the Arts (NSA) is a public magnet high school including grades 9-12 for arts-interested students located in Nashville, Tennessee. Each student enrolls in one or more of the nine conservatories within the school; dance, theatre ...

. Playing house shows and gigs at the all-ages venues Guido's Pizza and Bongo Java, the group honed its spastic-yet-poppy sound. The band released their first single, "Damn Damn Leash" – as a CD-R; the track made its way to

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

presenter Zane Lowe, whose support for Be Your Own Pet won the band an early U.K. following. Meanwhile, attention-getting gigs at 2004's CMJ and 2005's

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

began creating a buzz for the group stateside. A string of EPs followed. BYOP performed at festivals such as

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

Bonnaroo The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

, and

Reading & Leeds The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

. They also supported bands such as

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

, amongst others. The band received critical acclaim from

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', and many other publications such as ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', who named Pearl in the Top 10 of their annual "Cool List", and ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

'', who put the band on the cover of their summer 2006 issue. The group made their debut TV performance on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

''.

Albums

The band was signed to XL in the UK and with

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

's label,

Ecstatic Peace Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by American musician Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. The label name is borrowed from a line in Tom Wolfe's 1968 nonfiction novel ''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid ...

/Universal Records in North America. Be Your Own Pet originally released early singles and EPs with Nashville-based Infinity Cat Records. BYOP released two critically acclaimed albums; their 2006 debut album and 2008's ''

Get Awkward ''Get Awkward'' is the second album by Be Your Own Pet. It was released on March 18, 2008. ''Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Franc ...

''.

Break up

On August 1, 2008, the band announced on their website that after finishing a small tour of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, they would be breaking up. The band posted the following message on their website: "To all of our fans, we are sad to bring you the news that our upcoming shows in the UK are going to be our last as a band. We thank you for all your love and support these past few years. It's been a blast, but the time has come for the four of us to go our separate ways." Their final show as a band was at

Dingwalls Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...

in London in August 2008. In a 10-year retrospective article for the film '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'', director

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

revealed that Be Your Own Pet was originally asked to write the music for the fictional band Sex Bob-Omb, but their breakup prevented this from happening. The role was then given to

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

Side projects

All of the members of Be Your Own Pet were involved in various other musical projects. Jonas Stein and John Eatherly play together in a band called Turbo Fruits, along with their friend Max Peebles. Nathan Vasquez plays in a band called Deluxin. Jemina Pearl also has side projects: although no longer a member of

Cheap Time Cheap Time is a Nashville-based garage rock band, fronted by Jeffrey Novak. The band, which formed in 2006, has toured with Jay Reatard, Yo La Tengo, Guitar Wolf, and Mudhoney. They have released seven 7-inch singles, and four studio albums on I ...

, she was notably a member of Rare Form. Former member Jamin Orrall plays in

JEFF the Brotherhood JEFF the Brotherhood is an American two-piece rock band consisting of brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, hailing from Nashville, Tennessee. Their style has been described by music writers as containing elements of psychedelic rock, garage rock, ...

, along with his brother Jake Orrall.

Post-breakup

Jemina Pearl Jemina Pearl Abegg (born June 20, 1987) is an American singer and the frontwoman of Be Your Own Pet, a punk rock band she started when she was 16. She appeared in the television series ''Gossip Girl (TV series), Gossip Girl'', in a musical perf ...

released her debut album '' Break It Up'' on October 6, 2009, by

Records. The album is co-written by John Eatherly and has guest appearances from

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

Dave Sitek David Andrew Sitek (born September 6, 1972) is an American musician and record producer, known for his work with his band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Little Dragon, Beady ...

and Derek Stanton. As of 2012,

was performing out of Nashville in another garage-punk band called The Ultras S/C, alongside Ben Swank and Chet Weise. Jonas Stein focused on his side project, Turbo Fruits, which released several albums after Be Your Own Pet's disbanding. John Eatherly has played drums with bands such as

The Virgins The Virgins were an American indie rock band formed in 2006 in New York City. The band split up in November 2013. History 2006–2007: Formation Frontman Donald Cumming began writing music by himself in his New York apartment. He then recruited ...

Smith Westerns Smith Westerns were an American indie rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, composed of brothers Cullen and Cameron Omori as well as Max Kakacek, Julien Ehrlich and Hal James. Their musical influences included David Bowie, T. Rex and O ...

Chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

, and more. He was the lead singer of the band

Public Access TV Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

, and is now fronting the project Club Intl.

Reunion

In March 2022, Be Your Own Pet announced they would be reuniting to perform two concerts in April 2022 opening for

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

's Supply Chain Issues Tour.

Members

– vocals * Nathan Vasquez – bass, backing vocals * Jonas Stein – guitar, backing vocals * John Eatherly – drums

Former members

* Jamin Orrall – drums

Discography

Studio albums

*''

Be Your Own Pet Be Your Own Pet (also known as BYOP) is a four-piece punk/ garage rock group from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography The band formed in 2004, while all members were in high school at Nashville School of the Arts. Playing house shows and gigs a ...

'' (March 27, 2006) (

/ XL) ( UK No. 47) *''

'' (March 18, 2008), (Ecstatic Peace/XL) (UK No. 101) ( UK Indie No. 7)

EPs

*" Damn Damn Leash EP" (2005) (Japanese release) (Infinity Cat/XL/ Rough Trade) *" Summer Sensation" (April 18, 2006) (Ecstatic Peace/Infinity Cat) *"Extra Extra EP" (2006) (Infinity Cat) *"Not Rocket Science" (May 8, 2007) (Infinity Cat) *" Get Damaged EP" (2008) (Ecstatic Peace/XL)

Singles

Appearances

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

(2005) *

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

(2005) * Siren Music Festival (July 16, 2005) *

Summer Sonic Festival The , also known as Supersonic, is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba, Japan. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up cont ...

(August 2005) *

Coachella Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. I ...

(April 30, 2006) *

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in ...

2006 * ''

'' (June 13, 2006) * ''Subterranean Guide'' (

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

, July 30, 2006) *

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

2006 (August 5, 2006) *

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

(2006) * ''

MTV Live (Canada) ''MTV Live'' was a Canadian half-hour music television program. It was the flagship show of MTV Canada, airing from March 21, 2006 to October 31, 2012. The program began as an interactive talkshow where viewers were encouraged to jump into the ...

'' (June 3, 2008) *

(2008)

References

External links

*Jam, James.
Review
''NME''. *Raposa, David.
Review
Pitchfork Media. June 6, 2006.
"The 50 Greatest CDs of 2006"
''Blender'' Online. Jan/Feb 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007. {{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Tennessee Garage rock groups from Tennessee Garage punk groups Punk rock groups from Tennessee Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Musical groups reestablished in 2021 Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Ecstatic Peace! artists XL Recordings artists 2002 establishments in Tennessee